


What Happens Next?

by GrimGrinningGhoul



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Character Study, Gen, POV Second Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:00:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28472025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrimGrinningGhoul/pseuds/GrimGrinningGhoul
Summary: Being the Master of Time isn't as interesting as one might think.Until it is.This work was initially written back in March, now transferred over to AO3 with a few minor edits.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	What Happens Next?

**Author's Note:**

> So as mentioned in the summary, this work's a bit old. There's only maybe 2-3 actual edits from the original, mostly 'cause it doesn't feel fair to myself to bury my older work. And to be honest, I'm still a bit proud of it.
> 
> New Year's resolution is to transfer more of my oneshots over to AO3. I may not like my own work, but I'm making that everyone else's problem.

You’re a being with the power to manipulate time with no repercussions on yourself. You can see infinite possibilities, make infinite timelines, all at once, without ever having done it in the first place.

You always know what will happen, You’re always aware of what’s happening, and you never forget what has happened. All you have to do is look, and you know. You can set off any chain of events that you want, just as quickly as you can prevent them. You can change anything and everything. You’ve done so countless times in countless timelines.

Wouldn't you get bored?

You’ve probably helped people, you’ve probably hurt people. No, you definitely have. In one time. And another. In infinite ways, with infinite results. And you see all of it. There are no surprises. You'd get bored. And you _do._

Suddenly, here’s this boy. You never saw him before, he didn’t matter. But he’s here now, and he matters.

The Observants see him. They want you to watch him. _He’s dangerous,_ they say. You disagree. He could be dangerous, but he isn’t. Not the way he is, the way things will go, the way things have been. He’s fine. He’s good.

And it clicks. He’s dangerous to _them._

They're threatened by him, you can tell. They only think of themselves and claim they're for the Greater Good. The boy threatens that lie, he will. You know. You know and you find it amusing.

It’s amusing because this is a first.

But they won’t stop pestering you. _He’s dangerous,_ they say. _He must be stopped,_ they say. Their own pride blinds them, and they assume you’re blind too. That you can’t see the truth behind their fear. They give excuses instead of reasons. 

So, to prove a point, you give them a reason. It’s not like they’ll know, they can’t see like you can, can’t do what you do. They won’t know the difference. They don’t.

A catalyst, a choice, a consequence. It plays out perfectly, you knew it would.

The boy is broken and gone, he left something new, something terrible. It’s not him, but it thinks it is. It doesn’t know what it is. It wants to. It doesn’t. It hurts.

 _That’s_ the future they see. Now they have a reason. They believe they always did. You know better.

And the boy, he tries to fix it. He thinks he fails. But you know he didn’t. He’s learned, and a new path has been made.

Regardless, you fix it. You cheat. He’s grateful.

And the Observants are furious, they realize what you did. But it doesn’t matter, you proved your point, and it was _fun._ Still, they tell you to watch him. You decide to do just that.

This boy, he’s interesting. He was unexpected. He will do great things. Or maybe he won’t.

For once, you refrain from looking ahead. It would ruin the fun. So instead, you _observe._ You focus on his Now and his Now alone. It’s exciting, not knowing. For the first time, you get to ask yourself,

_“What happens next?”_

**Author's Note:**

> I see a lot of Time Dad Clockwork in the phandom, and as great as that is, I've always perceived him as neutral at best. I rarely see that sort of interpretation, so this was a fun little character study on what I believe goes through his head. I remember the clipped sort of writing was deliberately combined with Second Person POV to make him seem more detached and inhuman, but I'm not sure if it came across.
> 
> So yeah, old fic, but I'd love to hear some thoughts if anyone has any. My tumblr's https://grimgrinningghoul.tumblr.com/ , so feel free to come hang.


End file.
